Tunnel Pyrolysis Furnace

ABSTRACT

A tunnel pyrolysis furnace has a body and at least one flaming device. The body has a chamber and multiple tubes. The multiple tubes are disposed around the chamber and have catalysts loaded inside. The at least one flaming device is disposed near the body, and is used to heat up the body. The multiple tubes absorb heat, so heat is concentrated around the chamber and that provides an effect of even heating. Therefore, the chamber may reach a temperature for pyrolysis in a short time.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a tunnel pyrolysis furnace, and more particularly to a tunnel pyrolysis furnace that can improve efficiency of a pyrolysis process.

2. Description of Related Art

Pyrolysis refers to an irreversible chemical process which decomposes organic matters from macromolecules to micromolecules in an environment of high temperature and absence of oxygen. Taking advantage of the principle of pyrolysis, we can turn either waste matters or raw materials into reusable resources. For instance, waste tires may offer pyrolysis oil as fuel for a diesel engine after a pyrolysis process; biological raw materials such as soybeans and corns may offer biodiesel and activated charcoal after the pyrolysis process.

A conventional tunnel pyrolysis furnace for processing pyrolysis has a chamber. The chamber has a shuttable gate to isolate the outside air. After a user puts a recycled waste matter or a raw material into the chamber, the shuttable gate is shut down to isolate the chamber from outside air. Then, by elevating temperature to a certain value, the user may obtain reusable resources from pyrolysis.

However, the conventional tunnel pyrolysis furnace has the following shortcomings.

1. A large amount of time and energy must be consumed by the conventional tunnel pyrolysis furnace to reach the temperature for pyrolysis since the conventional tunnel pyrolysis furnace dissipates heat easily.

2. A long heating period also leads to low efficiency of the conventional tunnel pyrolysis furnace.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a tunnel pyrolysis furnace that can improve efficiency of the pyrolysis process.

The tunnel pyrolysis furnace has a body and at least one flaming device. The body has a chamber and multiple tubes. The multiple tubes are disposed around the chamber and each tube has a catalyst loaded inside. The at least one flaming device is disposed near the body, and is used to heat up the body.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tunnel pyrolysis furnace in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the tunnel pyrolysis furnace in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a further perspective view of the tunnel pyrolysis furnace in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view in partial section of the tunnel pyrolysis furnace in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram to illustrate connecting relations between elements of the tunnel pyrolysis furnace in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is an operational block diagram of the tunnel pyrolysis furnace in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, a tunnel pyrolysis furnace comprises a body 10 and at least one flaming device 20. In the present embodiment, the tunnel pyrolysis furnace comprises two flaming devices 20. In addition, with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, a condenser 30, a gas tank 40, and an oil tank 50 are applied along with the tunnel pyrolysis furnace.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the body 10 has an outer side, a base 11, a chamber 12, a surrounding layer 13, a padding layer 14, a pipe 15, and a blocking module 16. The base 11 is disposed at a bottom of the body 10. The base 11 has at least one through hole 111. In the present embodiment, the base 11 has two through holes 111. The two through holes 111 are disposed through the base 11 at a spaced interval, so they communicate with an inner side and an outer side of the base 11. The chamber 12 is disposed inside the body 10 and is located above the inner side of the base 11. The chamber 12 has an opening 121 formed through the body 10, so the opening 121 communicates with the chamber 12 and space outside the body 10.

With reference to FIG. 1, the surrounding layer 13 comprises multiple tubes 131. The multiple tubes 131 are disposed inside the body 10 separately. The multiple tubes 131 surround the chamber 12 in a height direction, and each of the tubes 131 extends downwardly into the base 11. Each one of the multiple tubes 131 has a catalyst loaded inside. The catalyst absorbs heat when a temperature of the chamber 12 rises, so as to concentrate heat around the chamber 12. With reference to FIGS. 1 and 3, the padding layer 14 comprises multiple tubes 141. The multiple tubes 141 are connected together and disposed in the chamber 12 and are surrounded by the surrounding layer 13. The multiple tubes 141 are disposed between the base 11 and the chamber 12, extend to a side of the chamber 12 that is opposite to the opening 121, and extend downwardly into the base 11. Each one of the multiple tubes 141 has a catalyst loaded inside. The catalyst absorbs heat when a temperature of the chamber 12 rises, so as to concentrate heat beneath and beside the chamber 12.

With reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, the pipe 15 is mounted to a top of the body 10, and communicates with the chamber 12. As shown in FIG. 5, the pipe 15 is connected to the condenser 30. The blocking module 16 is mounted to the body 10, adjacent to the opening 121 of the chamber 12. The blocking module 16 has a frame 161, a gate 162, and an elevating device 163. The frame 161 surrounds the opening 121 at the outer side of the body 10, and extends over the top of the body 10. The gate 162 is mounted to the frame 161. The gate 162 slides vertically in the frame 161, so the gate 162 may block the opening 121 to provide an isolated inert environment to the chamber 12. The elevating device 163 is mounted on a top of the frame 161, and is connected to the gate 162. The elevating device 163 may pull up the gate 162 to communicate with the chamber 12 and the outer side of the body 10 via the opening 121.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the two flaming devices 20 are disposed near the body 10, and align with the two through holes 111 of the base 11, respectively. As shown in FIG. 5, each one of the two flaming devices 20 is connected to a fuel source 60. The fuel source 60 inputs fuel gas into the corresponding flaming device 20, so the corresponding flaming device 20 may be ignited and then jet out flames into the base 11 through a corresponding one of the two through holes 111. Thus the temperature of the chamber 12 may be raised.

With reference to FIGS. 4 to 6, after a user feeds unprocessed matters into the chamber 12, the gate 162 is shut downwardly and blocks the opening 121 to provide an inert environment to the chamber 12. Then, the two flaming devices 20 will be actuated to raise the temperature of the chamber 12. Due to the catalysts in the multiple tubes 131, 141 of the surrounding layer 13 and the padding layer 14, heat is concentrated all around the chamber 12. As a result, the chamber 12 is heated evenly as well as the temperature rises soon to a certain value for pyrolysis.

With reference to FIG. 6, the unprocessed matters pyrolyze into solid products and gaseous products. The solid products are left in the chamber 12. The gaseous products pass through the pipe 15 and enter the condenser 30. After condensing, some of the gaseous products condense into oil and flow to the oil tank 50. The rest of the gaseous products, which are fuel gas, may be used as fuel of the two flaming devices 20, or may be stored in the gas tank 40.

With the aforementioned technical characteristics, the tunnel pyrolysis furnace has the following advantages.

1. Working efficiency for pyrolysis is improved. For example, the pyrolysis temperature for polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) is 300° C.; the pyrolysis temperature for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and hardware such as wires or printed circuit boards (PCB) is 400° C.; the pyrolysis temperature for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and tires is 450° C. The conventional tunnel pyrolysis furnace takes 6 hours to reach the pyrolysis temperatures mentioned above, while the present invention only takes 4 hours, saving one third of heating time.

2. Because of high efficiency and short heating time, the present invention is energy-saving. Pyrolysis proceeds relatively fast, so subsequent fuel gas may come from the gaseous products of pyrolysis. That means the fuel source 60 of each one of the flaming devices 20 is used only in a short period.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and features of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A tunnel pyrolysis furnace comprising: a body having a chamber disposed in the body; and multiple tubes disposed around the chamber, and each tube having a catalyst loaded inside; and at least one flaming device disposed adjacent to the body to heat up the body.
 2. The tunnel pyrolysis furnace as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tunnel pyrolysis furnace further has a condenser connected to the body; and the body further has a pipe communicating with the chamber and connected to the condenser.
 3. The tunnel pyrolysis furnace as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least one flaming device is connected to the condenser and a fuel source.
 4. The tunnel pyrolysis furnace as claimed in claim 1, wherein the body further has a base disposed below the chamber and having at least one through hole formed through the base and aligning with the at least one flaming device.
 5. The tunnel pyrolysis furnace as claimed in claim 2, wherein the body further has a base disposed below the chamber and having at least one through hole formed through the base and aligning with the at least one flaming device.
 6. The tunnel pyrolysis furnace as claimed in claim 3, wherein the body further has a base disposed below the chamber and having at least one through hole formed through the base and aligning with the at least one flaming device.
 7. The tunnel pyrolysis furnace as claimed in claim 4, wherein the body further has a surrounding layer disposed in the chamber and having multiple tubes disposed separately, surrounding the chamber in a height direction, and extending downwardly into the base.
 8. The tunnel pyrolysis furnace as claimed in claim 5, wherein the body further has a surrounding layer disposed in the chamber and having multiple tubes disposed separately, surrounding the chamber in a height direction, and extending downwardly into the base.
 9. The tunnel pyrolysis furnace as claimed in claim 6, wherein the body further has a surrounding layer disposed in the chamber and having multiple tubes disposed separately, surrounding the chamber in a height direction, and extending downwardly into the base.
 10. The tunnel pyrolysis furnace as claimed in claim 7, wherein the body further has a padding layer disposed in the chamber and surrounded by the surrounding layer and having multiple tubes connected together, disposed between the chamber and the base and beside the chamber, and extending downwardly into the base.
 11. The tunnel pyrolysis furnace as claimed in claim 8, wherein the body further has a padding layer disposed in the chamber and surrounded by the surrounding layer and having multiple tubes connected together, disposed between the chamber and the base and beside the chamber, and extending downwardly into the base.
 12. The tunnel pyrolysis furnace as claimed in claim 9, wherein the body further has a padding layer disposed in the chamber and surrounded by the surrounding layer and having multiple tubes connected together, disposed between the chamber and the base and beside the chamber, and extending downwardly into the base. 